The Spanish IBEX 35 index edged lower on Wednesday, weighed down by a negative market reaction to Inditex's earnings results, as investors assessed the preliminary trade agreement between Beijing and Washington and awaited key US inflation data.
Officials from the US and China announced on Tuesday that they had reached a framework to steer their trade truce back on track and lift Chinese restrictions on rare earth exports, though they provided no details regarding a lasting resolution to their long-running dispute.
Analysts at Renta 4 highlighted the lack of "concrete details, with markets needing such specifics (rare minerals, technology) to sustain gains after a 20-30% rebound in the main global indices since the early April lows (lows linked to the aggressive reciprocal tariffs announced on Liberation Day, which were later followed by a truce and the current negotiations)."
Turning to the week's main macroeconomic indicator, the US Consumer Price Index for May (due Wednesday at 1230 GMT), these analysts noted in their morning report that if the anticipated price uptick--2.5% year-on-year, according to a Reuters poll--materializes, the data "would support the Federal Reserve's 'wait and see' expectations," with no rate cut expected until at least after the summer.
According to LSEG's IRPR interest rate futures tool, markets are currently pricing in a total of 44 basis points in rate cuts for this year, with only a 50.5% chance of a reduction in September.
In Spain, the main negative standout was its largest-cap company, Inditex, which dropped 6.36% after releasing first-quarter results that included weaker-than-expected figures for the opening weeks of the second quarter.
Overall, as of 0705 GMT on Wednesday, the Spanish IBEX 35 benchmark index was down 89.00 points, or 0.63%, at 14,132.10 points, while the pan-European blue-chip index FTSE Eurofirst 300 edged up 0.12%.
In the banking sector, Santander rose 0.78%, BBVA gained 0.72%, Caixabank advanced 0.54%, Sabadell climbed 1.11%, Bankinter appreciated 0.45%, and Unicaja Banco was up 0.72%.
Among the major non-financial stocks, Telefónica slipped 0.24%, Iberdrola lost 0.43%, Cellnex fell 0.65%, and oil company Repsol declined 0.12%.
(Reporting by Tomás Cobos; editing by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)